Improvement in machines for slitting railroad-rails



J. REEsE. LITTING RAILROAD RAILS. P

nted July 25,1876.

MACHINES F011v s -No..180-,37 3

N- PETERS. PHOTWLITHOGRAPH zsheetssheetz. J. REESE. MACHINES FORS'LITTING RAILROAD RAILS. N0 180,373 .Patented Ju1y25, 1876-.

Il?, A

NJ'ETEHS, PHOTD-UTHDGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D` C. f

' bodying my invention.

UNITED STATEs PATELCWFIQIEQ JAeoB EEEsE`,oE PITTsBUEe, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT INAMAHINES FOR SLITTING RAILROAD-RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 180,373, dated July 25,1876; application filed May 26, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Y Be it known that I, JACOB REESE, ofPittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for SlittingRailroad-Rails; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompaying drawing, forming part of this` specification, in which-Figure l is an elevation of a machine em- Fig. 2 is a Ilongitudinalvertical section. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section 011 the line x fr, Fig.l; Figs. 4, 5, 6, and '7, diagrams showing the manner in which rails maybe cut for various purposes.

Like-letters refer to like parts wherever they occur. i

My invention relates to machinery for slithousingscrews (not shown) maybe used for adjusting the bearings. C representsv the shafts or rolls,which carry the cutters. The

shafts are turned up with the journals c c', and

with one or more collars, d, to form a shoulder or bearing for one ofthe detachable cutters, the distance of d from the nearest journal beingdetermined by the length of the shaft, and the amount of adjustmentrequired for the cutters. c e are annular cutting-disks or cuttersslipped upon shaft (l, andseparated by a detachable collar, f, the wholebeing secured by a nut or threaded collar, g, which engages with athread formed on the shaft C. The annular cutting-disks c e are beveledupon their peripheries, and are so arranged upon the shaft C that whenthe rolls are placed in the housings the cutting-edges of the disks uponthe upper roll, andthe cutting-edges of the corresponding disks upon thelower roll, will be in the same vertical plane, so that the rail will bedivided by a chisel-cutvfrom two sides. Howover the cutting-disks areadjusted, the relative arrangement of the corresponding cutters of thetwo rolls must be preserved,as before 'specietu In order to preserve therelations of the journal, and to steady the roll, a loose.journal-collar, h, is slipped upon the journal,

and bears against the shoulderof shaft G. The widthof detachablecollar fmay besuch as to adjust thecutting-disks for a small or low rail, andwhen high rails or wider webs are to be cut annular washers may beinterposed, or, if preferred, collars ot' different widths may be used.The fixed collar or collars d may be cast or turned up with the roll, ormay be shrunk on the shaft, as preferred.

In slitting rails the tendency of the ilange and head-pieces, so cut, isto curve outward from the web. (See diagram.) To prevent this I make useofthe adjustable guide-bars, so as to cause the pieces when cut to passout of the rolls in a straight condition ready for'subsequent use.Supported upon crossbars E, secured to the housings, is theabove-mentioned rail-guide, composed of two adjustable plates, k Z, theone, k, grooved to receive the head of the rail, and the other, l, plainto accord with the base or flange. Either or both of the plates may beadjusted at pleasure, or according to the size of the rail, by means ofthe bolts m, which pass through slots in the cross-bars E. The severalparts composing the roll being constructed substantially as specified,one cutter, c, is slipped upon shaft C, and passed 11p to collar d. Aloose collar, corresponding to the width of the web of the rail to beslit, or if a collar of such width is not at hand, then acollar of lesswidth, together with' a sufficient number of washers to make up thedifference,

is next put on the shaft, after which the other. cutting-disk is added,and the whole secured by the threaded collar g.

Two' such cutting-rolls having-been adjusted in the housings theposition of the rail-guide with relation to the cutters is regulated bysliding the plates on the cross-bars E, after which the guide is fixedby the bolts m and nuts. Power being applied to 'the rolls, land therail properly heated and placed in the guides, the collar f will biteupon the web and cause the rail to travel through the rolls between thecutters, when, if the several adj ustment-s specified have beencarefully made,

the lines of cut will be continuations of the outline ot'eaeh sectionofthe rail, (see diagram, Fig. 5,) thus leaving no projections, as shownin diagram, Fig. 5, and avoiding laps or seams in the nished bars.

The adjustment ofthe cutters so as to slit the rail into three sections,head, web, and flange, as shown in diagram, Fig. 5, is that I usuallyemploy in producing bars, hoops, baleties, &c.; but it' it is desired tocut off the head ofthe rail only, so as to leave the web and ange in onepiece, (see diagram, Fig. 7,) to be thereafter rolled into T-iron, thismay be done by loosening collar g, and removing the cutter nearest theplain guide-plate; orif the flange of the rail only is to be cutoff,(see diagram, Fig. 6,) so as to leave the Web and head connected, inwhich condition it Will be found adapted to be rolled into plow-beamsand similar articles, this can be done by removing the cutter nearestthe grooved guide-plate.

From the foregoingvdescription it is evident that, in addition to theadvantages specified over those machines wherein the cutter and roll areformed in one, by my improved construction the cutters may be adjustedto cut portions only of the rail, leaving itin various forms adapted toutilization in Well-known manufactures. While this may not seem ofspecial advantage in using up rails made ot' weldable metal, its greatadvantage is apparent in the utilization of-old Bessemer steel rails,rail-ends, Snc., which are accumulating at the works and elsewhere,which it is very difficult, if not impossible, to weld, and which,

it' reworked to advantage, must be reworked JACOB REESE.

Witnesses:

J AMES BLACK, WM. J. MA'rnEWs.

